A client once told me in a Paris bar that if you order an Old Fashioned, you’ll always have the respect of the barman. “Sod the barman,” I said, inwardly, because they were a client after all. “If I’m paying a tenner for a drink it’s going to be something I actually like.”

There’s a lot not to like about Barrafina. For instance: the layout, which sits precisely 29 diners behind a cramped L-shaped counter. Everyone else waits – for up to two hours! – directly behind them, getting in the way of pained-looking hosting staff and audibly wishing the people ahead of them would eat a bit […]